What sound comes to mind when you think of a church? For some it may be the resonance of softly spoken prayers, for others it could be the ringing of bells from the tower. For some though, the sound of a church will always be hymns played on a pipe organ.
Of course these days, music in churches is played by many different means such as pianos, digital hymnals or even live bands with electric guitars! Pipe organs though, have been around for longer than all of them.
When was the pipe organ Invented?
The pipe organ’s earliest predecessor was an instrument called the Hydraulis, created in the 3rd century BC (over two thousand years ago!) by Greek engineer Ctesibius of Alexandria. This was the first concept of the pipe organ that we know today and looked similar with upright pipes stood on top of a wind chest.
The Hydraulis used the power of water to compress and pressurise air to blow past the pipes to create a sound – hence its Ancient Greek name literally meaning ‘water pipe’.
The progression and development of the pipe organ
During the Medieval period, portable organs were invented. A portative organ was hand held while a positive organ was just a smaller, mobile pipe organ but for both, air was driven to the pipes by bellows.
The first documented large pipe organ installation was in 1361 in Halberstadt, Germany. The Halberstadt organ was the first of its kind to use a chromatic keyboard layout across all of its three manual keyboards and its pedal board.
In around the 15th century, the first stop controls were introduced to change the sound the organ produced, by allowing only one rank (or Blockwerk) of pipes to sound. Over the following years and even centuries, stops advanced which allowed an even greater variety of sounds and keyboards were well balanced to allow for an easier playing experience and greater control.
By mid-19th century, the air driving bellows of pipe organs were less frequently operated manually and more so by water, steam and gasoline engines. Later though bellows were replaced by wind turbines and then even later, electrical motors and blowers were introduced.
More recent developments included the incorporation of modern digital components such as digital stops, and also recording technology for a play back of an organist’s performance.
When did pipe organs start to appear in churches?
It is thought that the earliest pipe organs made their way into churches in the 9th century. In the year 757, an organ was sent from Constantinople as a gift to Pepin the Short, the King of Franks and in 812, Pepin’s son Charlemagne asked for a similar organ for his chapel in Aachen, Germany.
This was the start of life in a church for the pipe organ however, this was relatively short lived due to the English Reformation in the 16th Century. When the Church of England disassociated from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, many pipe organs were removed from churches. This is why most of the organs found in churches today date from the later part of the 19th Century.
Insuring your pipe organ
Pipe organs are a little piece of your church’s history and some may even be listed so it’s important to make sure they are insured properly.
In most cases, your pipe organ is covered under your main church insurance policy. Some insurers see the organ as part of the building and include this in the sums insured of the building, while others may insure your organ as a specified item on your policy.
In order to make sure that your pipe organ is adequately covered, you should try to provide your insurer with an up to date and accurate value. A pipe organ specialist should be able to give you an accurate valuation.
You should also make your insurers aware if your pipe organ is listed. This will make sure that your organ is insured on the right basis. If it is a listed pipe organ, should any damage occur, it would have to be repaired and preserved, rather than just be removed or replaced.
If you are not sure whether your pipe organ is listed, you may be able to find it on the National Pipe Organ Register, provided by the British Institute of Organ Studies.
Click here to go to the National Pipe Organ Register website and click on the link titled ‘Excel Spreadsheet’ as shown below.
